Hollywood away from home: Where the stars stay in Vancouver

Katya Holloway, Vancouver Sun07.31.2013

This resort-style luxury home rents in West Vancouver’s Gleaneagles area rents for $50,000 per month. It’s the type of secluded property that celebrities request while visiting Hollywood North. This 9,013-squ-ft home is on a private, gated property with views of the ocean, mountains and Howe Sound, with a hot tub, media room, billiards room and two wine rooms.
/ Unique Accommodations

Actor Matt Damon and his family stayed in Vancouver for the summer of 2011 while filming Elysium. They rented a secluded home on the North Shore with a budget believed to be around $50,000 per month.Neilson Barnard
/ Getty Images

This resort-style luxury home rents in West Vancouver’s Gleaneagles area rents for $50,000 per month. It’s the type of secluded property that celebrities request while visiting Hollywood North. This 9,013-squ-ft home is on a private, gated property with views of the ocean, mountains and Howe Sound, with a hot tub, media room, billiards room and two wine rooms.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

Actor John Cusack rented a downtown condo on Richards Street on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.Reed Saxon
/ AP

John Cusack rented this 2,500-sq-ft condo on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.
/ Unique Accommodations

John Cusack rented this 2,500-sq-ft condo on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.
/ Unique Accommodations

John Cusack rented this 2,500-sq-ft condo on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

John Cusack rented this 2,500-sq-ft condo on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

John Cusack rented this 2,500-sq-ft condo on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver on two occasions. It rents for $25,000 per month, furnished. It has chandeliers throughout, 360-degree water and city views, lounge with pool table, 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jeff Bridges each rented out this Beach Avenue penthouse in downtown Vancouver, which goes for $20,000 per month furnished. The 3,000-sq-ft, 3 bed, 4 bath pad is on its own private floor, with spectacular views of the city, mountains and English Bay. Entertain on two sun terraces, complete with fireplace.
/ Unique Accommodations

Jeff Bridges in True Grit. When he was in Vancouver filming Tron, he lived in a Beach Avenue penthouse, which rents for $20,000 per month. The 3,000-sq-ft, 3 bed, 4 bath pad is on its own private floor, with spectacular views of the city, mountains and English Bay. Entertain on two sun terraces, complete with fireplace.-
/ AFP/Getty Images

Jeff Bridges rented out this Beach Avenue penthouse in downtown Vancouver, which goes for $20,000 per month furnished, while here filming Tron.MARK TEASDALE

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jeff Bridges each rented out this Beach Avenue penthouse in downtown Vancouver, which goes for $20,000 per month furnished. The 3,000-sq-ft, 3 bed, 4 bath pad is on its own private floor, with spectacular views of the city, mountains and English Bay. Entertain on two sun terraces, complete with fireplace.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

The incredible view from the Beach Ave. apartment on the water in Vancouver that both Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jeff Bridges have rented in the past. It rents for $20,000 per month.Unique Accommodations
/ Special to The Vancouver Sun

Tom Cruise with wife Katie Holmes and daughter Suri outside Science World in Vancouver on Feb. 9, 2011. The family rented out an entire floor of the Shangri-La while filming Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.Ken Redekop
/ Vancouver Sun

The view from the top of the Shangri-La hotel. Tom Cruise with wife Katie Holmes and daughter Suri outside Science World in Vancouver on Feb. 9, 2011. The family rented out an entire floor of the Shangri-La while filming Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.bill keay
/ vancouver sun

Channing Tatum has been hopping between the U.S. and B.C. lately to visit wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum (pictured) and newborn baby Everly. They are rumoured to be staying in a secluded home on the North Shore. Dewan-Tatum is here filming new TV series The Witches of Eastwick.Michael Buckner

Jennifer Aniston in Love Happens, which was filmed in Vancouver. The actress reportedly rented out an entire floor of The Metropolitan Hotel while working here.Photo Credit: Kimberley French

Jennifer Aniston in Love Happens, which was filmed in Vancouver. The actress reportedly rented out an entire floor of The Metropolitan Hotel (pictured) while working here.Mark van Manen
/ Vancouver Sun

Actor George Clooney begins filming Tomorrowland in Vancouver on Aug. 8. It’s rumoured that he will be staying in a downtown hotel.WILL OLIVER
/ AFP/Getty Images

Actor Hugh Laurie begins filming Tomorrowland in Vancouver on Aug. 8. It’s rumoured that he will be staying in a downtown hotel.Kevin Winter
/ Getty Images

Unique Accommodations found homes in Squamish for Twilight stars Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson when they were filming the first movie here in Metro Vancouver.Michael Buckner

The former Vancouver residence of actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, which was reportedly up for sale in 2005.Ric Ernst
/ PNG files

Okay, so he's not an actor, but it's worth pointing out the Abbotsford home of musician Chad Kroeger, lead singer for Canadian rock group, Nickelback.Ric Ernst
/ PNG files

When Hollywood actors arrive in Vancouver, they vanish into a ‘B.C. triangle’ of secret lairs.

Some, such as Matt Damon, find refuge in palatial homes tucked behind iron gates and old-growth cedars on the North Shore. Others, like John Cusack, live large in downtown suites with panoramic views, a pool table, chandeliers and a private hot tub.

A few rent out entire floors of hotels, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who nabbed the penthouse of the Shangri-La Hotel while filming Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, and Jennifer Aniston, who reportedly booked up the top floor of the Metropolitan Hotel while here in 2008.

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CLICK HERE to view images inside the homes, or if you're using a mobile app, tap the story image and swipe.

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Generally, celebrities want to be right downtown or on the North Shore, said Chad Kalyn, rental manager at Unique Accommodations, a local company that specializes in finding houses and suites for the stars.

The bigger the star, the more substantial the budget, which tops out in Metro Vancouver at $50,000 per month to rent a furnished home, said Kalyn. Budgets in the film industry typically start at $2,500 per month for back-end production people, while the actors snap up properties at the top of the scale.

“The most expensive rentals we have are $50,000,” he said. “They are mainly on the North Shore, and a couple of downtown penthouses. It’s the A-list people who are taking those; all the stars of the (biggest) movies.”

For Hollywood’s elite, Vancouver’s west side usually doesn’t offer enough privacy, he added. “We’re talking a $50,000 budget on the water, gated homes, things like that.”

Unique Accommodations has housed Renee Zellweger, Hugh Jackman, Ben Affleck and Jen Garner, Halle Berry, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in recent years. They’ve also worked with the stars from Elysium, This Means War and X-Men, to name a few.

When Matt Damon arrived with his family in the summer of 2011 to film Elysium, he kept a low profile, popping up now and again to purchase an ice cream cone or mosy around West Vancouver. But you can bet he was among the A-listers with a $50,000-per-month rental budget, shacking up in one of the North Shore’s finest architectural treasures.

John Cusack paid about $25,000 per month for a 2,500-sq-ft False Creek condo while working here on two occasions, complete with 360-degree water and city views, pool table and 1,600-sq-foot deck with hot tub.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson kicked back in a three-bed penthouse on Beach Ave. while in Vancouver filming The Tooth Fairy. With a price tag of a mere $20,000 a month, it features views of the city, mountains and English Bay on its own private floor, with 11-foot ceilings and a media room. It must be a nice pad, because Jeff Bridges also called this place home for a while when filming Tron: Legacy.

Kalyn kept mum on a few of the company’s clients, citing confidentiality agreements.

We do know, however, that a number of big names are living in Metro Vancouver at the moment, including famed director Tim Burton, who is here working on his latest feature film, Big Eyes, and actors Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

Mystery surrounds the recent arrival of Channing Tatum and his family — wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum, who is here filming TV series The Witches of East End, newborn baby Everly and puppy Meeka — who are rumoured to be nesting in a hush-hush North Shore hideaway.

Things heat up even more in the coming days when George Clooney and Hugh Laurie arrive to begin work on big-budget Disney film Tomorrowland. Cameras start rolling on Aug. 8, and they’ll be here until Jan. 15. Rumour has it they will be staying in a hotel: likely the Shangri-La, Fairmont Pacific Rim or Sutton Place.

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CLICK HEREto view images inside the homes, or if you're using a mobile app, tap the story image and swipe.

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